艺术家｜对话艺术家潘小荣（下篇）
潘小荣、孙玥双个展“回响”展览现场 The installation view of Reverberation
Courtesy of BLANKgallery
接上文: 艺术家｜对话艺术家潘小荣（上篇）
（B-BLANKgallery，P-潘小荣）
B: 虽然从理性走到感性有一个过程，但现在还是能从您的作品里看到一些比较沉着冷静的点, 这感觉还是一脉相承的。
P: 这个是最近在想的一个问题。其实纸贴的这种方式也是去年下半年才找到的。这也是慢慢找到的，之前是贴了些别的东西，然后从去年上半年开始萌芽的。在色彩里面也研究得开始有感觉了。最重要的是我找到丙烯这个材质，它可以跟水调和在一起。之前我比较排斥用丙烯，因为读大学时学的是油画，我对丙烯是比较抵触的。
我很讨厌别人去改我的东西。比如我出一个方案，来一个人说你得改，我受不了。所以我做好的作品就是这样，我不想让你改。这和我的性格有关，我还是比较了解自己的。
潘小荣作品于双个展：“回响 Reverberation” 展览现场，BLANKgallery
潘小荣作品于双个展：“回响 Reverberation” 展览现场，BLANKgallery
B: 那您下一步是继续往大尺幅的作品创作？
P: 对,我想画大的。我现在工作室堆得都是大画。这个也要感谢我的邻居，他给了我一个好的空间。这也是我自己第一个比较大的工作室，将近两百平米左右。
B: 您的下一步创作或展览计划是什么呢？您对于下一场个展有没有一些想要实验的想法呢？
P: 下一步计划还没有。我希望自己先把作品做好。我喜欢主动一点的，人家喜欢什么样，那就选一样，我就不用再去改了。因为时候就给了人家空间，也给我自己空间。
关于艺术家
潘小荣 Pan Xiaorong, Courtesy of BLANKgallery
主要参展经历包括：
“微粒场”，一个艺术，上海（2019）；“继续——M50创意园二十周年特展”，香格纳画廊，上海（2019）；“新抽象——第二回展”，HdM画廊，北京（2019）；“和维画廊&HADRIEN DE MONTFERRAND画廊@第四届香港巴塞尔艺术展”，香港会议展览中心，中国香港（2016）；“Small is Beautiful”，Jewelvary Art and Boutique,上海（2015）；“对流——全息的上海创作实录”，上海韩国文化馆，上海（2015）；“复象的幽灵”，玉衡艺术中心，上海（2015）
重要机构收藏: M+希克收藏
相关链接：
现场 | BLANKgallery 潘小荣、孙玥双个展 : 回响 Reverberation
现场｜BLANKgallery群展：春潮 Spring Blooming
B: I see that your previous works are mainly in black and white and gray, is it because Mr. Ding Yi said that your sense of color was too poor at that time, so you just used black and white and gray? Or do you actually have your own ideas?
P: Actually, I have a plan in my artistic path. In the early days, I was young and wanted to be cool. At that time, I was not married, I did not have children, I did not have a family, and I thought it was more important to be calm and rational. That's why there were fewer colors in my works at that time.
B: So the idea of creation at that time was more rational order than sensibility?
P: At that time, I thought China needed rationality, so I painted those works. I think rationality is very important to the Chinese people. Because those works started in 2008, when we were in college, it was a period of booming development in China, and some things might not be right, but it kept developing.
At that time, I felt that China lacked a kind of rational thing. As a creator, I felt that I should create something rational. That's why I painted some very calm and extreme works at that time.
B: Are you now moving towards the extreme sensibility? In this series of works, I can feel that the presence of color is gradually greater than the shape of things, so I would like to ask you whether the use of color echoes your inner emotions? Or is the change of color a response to a certain event or object in the city life at the moment?
P: I think it's different now, because back then I thought it might take China a hundred years to get to the so-called rationalism, so I was sticking to that. Slowly I realized that Chinese people will never be able to go to rationalism. It's not the same as before, including my whole state of being. I feel as if it took me two years to adapt to this kind of life. If you ask me to go back and paint the old paintings now, it is impossible to do so, I don't have that feeling anymore. I still want to make some changes in my works with my own phase of transformation, and incorporate my own feelings into my works.
B: Although there is a process from rational to emotional, you can still see some calm and collected points in your works. Is this still the same, right?
P: This is a question I've been thinking about recently. In fact, I only found this way of paper sticking in the second half of last year. This is also found slowly, before that it was pasted some other things, and then from the first half of last year began to sprout.
I also started to have a sense of color research. The most important thing is that I found the acrylic material, which can be mixed with water. Before that, I was rather resistant to acrylics because I studied oil painting when I was in college.
B: Why do you resist acrylics?
P: When I was painting oil paintings, I felt that acrylics were not very advanced. For those who paint oil, acrylics feel like a step down.
B: Then why did you suddenly choose to use acrylics? How did you manage to get along with acrylics?
P: I found out that acrylics are very colorful, they have transparent, translucent, gold and so on. Another reason is that although I am an oil painter, I don't like oil painting. It dries slowly, and when I want to paint, it doesn't dry. So sometimes when I want to paint with full emotion, the oil painting is not yet dry, I am very annoyed. Then I found that oil was not the right material for me, and when I found acrylic, I slowly got my creative feeling back.
B: Your works always reveal your composure and endurance, and the soft canvas surface is also permeated with strong and powerful feelings. Or do you show your emotions directly on the screen when you have inspiration or emotions?
P: My emotions are still rather staged. For example, when I go to express and create, I will think about this small stage, such as these paintings, what kind of tone I want to paint. I will have a feeling and want to sink some things in my life to express them, rather than expressing them directly.
B: In the process of exploring changes and overturning your previous creation methods, do you want to try other forms of creation? For example, installation, sculpture, etc. Why do you choose to stick to easel painting?
P. I had already tried installation and sculpture when I was in college. Because I wanted to be an artist for a long time, so when I was in college, I took advantage of the money my parents could give me, so I played with everything I could. After I finished playing, I found that a flatter way of creation would allow me to express myself more fully.
I hate it when people change my stuff. For example, if I come up with a plan and someone says you have to change it, I can't stand it. That's why my work is like this, I don't want you to change it. This is related to my personality, I still know myself better.
B: Back to this exhibition, why are all the series of works in this exhibition named "Free Shapes + Colors"? What do you want to express with the name "Freedom"? What kind of experience do you want to convey to the audience through these colors and names?
P: Actually, it comes back to the question of whether Mr. Ding and I are alike or not. I always felt that he was a very strict person. To use a word from calligraphy, Mr. Ding's creations are very strict. I've been with him for six and a half years, and I've often watched him paint, and sometimes he thinks that when he's two-thirds of the way through or halfway through, I think that's enough. But he would still go ahead and paint, and he would paint the way he wanted to. That's when I thought, "The difference between me and him is that I often stop painting sometimes when I'm halfway through.
B: Why do you feel that way?
P: It's about the different standards of understanding a work. Mr. Ding has his standards and I have mine. I think this is very important, I think the point is reached. Many times when I'm halfway through a piece, I find that it feels good, so I'll take a picture of it with my phone and keep it, and maybe the next time I create it I'll paint that feeling. I won't finish it. But not Mr. Ding, he is very strict in every work.
Of course, the "free form" is a very expressive thing. But because I use paper to tear when I create. I don't think I can be as strict as Mr. Ding, but I have my own feeling. In terms of calligraphy, I think he is a bit like Ouyang Xun, but I think I may have a bit of Mi Fu's feeling, which is not so strict. My feeling about a piece of work is different from his feeling about a piece of work.
B: I thought "freedom" was about yourself, but now it sounds like "freedom" is about letting your work go, letting it go.
P: Yes, that's right. I don't want the "free and democratic" kind of freedom outside, but I think we should give the work the freedom to grow on its own, in the process of creation. Sometimes I think the best and most beautiful thing is a moment, not a very eternal thing.
That's why I'm fascinated by that feeling. Sometimes I may be two-thirds of the way through a work or one-third of the way through a work, and I capture it, and it feels good. Next time I'll do this kind of work.
B: Mr. Pan, this is your first solo exhibition after 3 years, is there any change of mentality?
P:When I'm not in a good state, I don't want to move. Of course, I was actually writing, but I didn't have a particular feeling. I waited until the epidemic was over, but I had a brand new feeling, and I was in a very good state. This year, I took a break on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and I have been working on it since the second day of the Lunar New Year.
B: So your next step is to continue to create larger works?
P: Yes, I want to paint big ones. My studio is full of big paintings now. I have to thank my neighbor who gave me a good space for this. This is also my first big studio, almost 200 square meters.
B: What is your next creation or exhibition plan? Do you have any experimental ideas for your next solo exhibition?
P: No, I don't have any next plan yet. I hope I can do a good job with my work first. I like to be more proactive and choose what people like, so I don't have to change it. I don't have to change it anymore, because this time it gives people space and gives me space for myself.
About Artist
Pan Xiaorong (b.1985) was born in Jiangxi Province and currently lives and works in Shanghai. 2004-2008, he studied at the Oil Painting Department of Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts. He also studied under the supervision of renowned artist Ding Yi and was a finalist in the 2009 Creative M50 Award for Creative Emerging Artists.
Main exhibitions
“Grain Field”, ANART, Shanghai, China(2019); “Continuance——The 20th Anniversary Special Exhibition of M50”, ShanghART, Shanghai, China(2019); “New Abstraction: Chapter 2”, HdM Gallery, Beijing, China(2019); “Small is Beautiful”, Jewelvary Art and Boutique, Shanghai, China(2015); “Between Two Waves – Holographic Creation in Shanghai”, KOREAN CULTURAL CENTER, Shanghai, China(2015)；“The Spectres”, Alioth Art Center, Shanghai, China(2015)
Institutional Collection: M+ Sigg Collection
正在展出 Current Exhibition